Shaking up the praise market

Everyone's posting this link, but (having gotten through half of it so far) I feel compelled to post it myself as well.

The effect of praising kids

Anyone who knows me well won't be surprised to hear that I'm not interested in most aspects of raising kids. What caught me on this one was that, like tenacious_snail and akienm, I could see my own childhood in it. What finally took my breath away was this:

According to Meyer’s findings, by the age of 12, children believe that earning praise from a teacher is not a sign you did well—it’s actually a sign you lack ability and the teacher thinks you need extra encouragement. And teens, Meyer found, discounted praise to such an extent that they believed it’s a teacher’s criticism—not praise at all—that really conveys a positive belief in a student’s aptitude.

That managed to put into words something I've observed in myself for years, and goes on to provide possible explanations for such a seemingly contradictory reaction.

All through this article I've been nodding my head. If you were brought up with teachers and parents always telling you you're smart, go read it.